TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Following each one of our previews of Alabama opponents in 2013, we're going to dive deeper in to the finer workings of said opponent.

The best way, we've learned, is to pick the brain of the folks who know these programs a lot better than we do and follow them on a daily basis.

For Mississippi State, we asked Brad Locke of insidemsusports.com five questions about the Bulldogs.

1. Give us the temperature on Mississippi State football at the moment. Has there been any frustration about the Bulldogs' finish in 2012?

- There has certainly been frustration about losing five of the last six games, especially the loss to rival Ole Miss. With three consecutive winning seasons, fans are happy on the whole, but they're eager for MSU to get into double-digit win territory. Dan Mullen himself has talked about eight wins being "average" for MSU.

2. Did Tyler Russell peak midway through the 2012 season, or should fans expect an even better version of the MSU quarterback in his final year?

- I don't know if you'd say he peaked, although he was certainly very good at that point. That was in part a product of the schedule, the back half of which was extremely tough, and he finished with a whimper, tossing two interceptions versus Ole Miss and four against Northwestern in the Gator Bowl. Being a fifth-year senior, Russell knows the offense very well and has a high skill level, and I expect him to improve on last year's numbers.

3. With LaDarius Perkins, MSU appears set in the backfield, but what's the latest at wide receiver?

- MSU lost all three starters there, and so it's counting on guys like junior Jameon Lewis, junior Robert Johnson and juco transfer Jeremey Chappelle to step in. You can expect to see Perkins catching the ball out of the backfield a good bit, and tight end Malcolm Johnson has actually been the team's best big-play threat the last two years, averaging 17.9 yards per catch.

4. Just how good can five-star recruit Chris Jones be in his first year at Mississippi State? How crucial was it for Mullen to hang on to him as Ole Miss pushed hard for his signature?

- It was huge to land Jones, especially with Ole Miss getting Robert Nkemdiche. Ideally, MSU would probably like to redshirt Jones, but it's hard to do that with five-star recruits, of which the Bulldogs don't get very many. Jones is raw, but if he does play, expect it to be in pass rush situations.

5. What about the rest of the defense? What kind of changes should be expected now that Geoff Collins has complete control?

- Collins has been using the term "defensive mayhem" a lot, and his players have raved about what he was doing in the spring. They're expecting a more aggressive approach, and MSU certainly needs to be more disruptive in offensive backfields. Collins has some good tools to do that, like end Denico Autry and middle linebacker Benardrick McKinney. Collins will throw a lot of different looks at offenses.